David sat at the bus terminal bench, hugging his backpack to his chest. Even though it was summer, the air was still chilly. The excitement of running away faded away after two long bus rides. Now, he was tired. The next bus ride was eight hours long, overnight; hopefully, he could get some sleep. He had chosen the destination to try to get as far away as possible, but he was starting to regret taking such a long trip.
At 10 PM sharp, a large bus pulled into the loading zone. David took a deep breath; the last one. As David stepped into the bus, the driver greeted him with a slight nod. David handed him a ticket and made his way to the back. A few people were already boarded from previous stops, but the back of the bus was empty. David had been avoiding people as much as possible, on account that he didn’t want somebody to recognize him within a few hours of running away. He used his brother’s hat to hide his features as much as possible.
After placing his bag in the compartment above, David settled in his seat and put headphones on. The music helped him forget what happened to Karl. David smiled cynically as he adjusted his brother’s hat; no, it was impossible to forget what happened.
Only one other passenger entered the bus. He appeared to be in his early twenties and slightly overweight. His black hair was a little messy, and it looked like he hadn’t changed his clothes for a few days. David assumed he barely caught the bus since he was breathing heavily.
Regrettably, the new passenger made his way to the back of the bus near David. He had a fairly large bag. He was trying to fit it in the overhead compartment but was failing. An annoyed bus driver was staring through the rear-view mirror. David sighed as he slipped his headphones around his neck and stood up.
“Here, let me help with that,” David said.
“Oh, thanks, man,” the guy said.
Within a few moments of pushing and stuffing, the two of them were able to make the bag fit. David made his way back to his seat, and the other guy sat across the row. The bus’s engine started, and they started to move.
“You’re a lifesaver. My name’s Sam.” Sam held out his hand to shake.
David shook it. “David. It wasn’t a problem at all. I just wanted to get going.”
As they released hands, Sam flexed his hand and looked at it strangely. “Sorry, I think my hand just fell asleep. Anyway, yeah, I hear you. I’m ready to be done with these long bus rides. So, where are you headed? You seem a little young to be traveling by yourself.”
“I’m sixteen; I’m not that young,” David said. Sam held up his hands in apology. “Well, I’m just visiting my relatives for the summer. What about you?”
Sam stretched as he got more comfortable in his chair. “I just graduated from college, and I’ve got a job lined up.” Sam let out a huge yawn. “I’m going to try to get some shut-eye. Nice to meet you, David.”
“Likewise. G’night.”
David put his headphones back on and moved to the seat next to the window. He pushed his seat back so it was almost horizontal. He shifted around trying to find a comfortable position as thoughts of his brother transforming into a girl kept on flowing through his head.
Sam woke up as the bus hit a bump. He groggily checked the time and groaned. 2 AM. He still had six hours left. He needed sleep, but he could never get much rest while traveling.
He felt his stomach rumble a bit. Now was a good time as ever to grab a snack. As he stood up, he felt something was a little off. His clothes seemed to be a size too big. Sam had never considered himself fat, but he wasn’t skinny either.
Thinking it was caused by the stress of traveling, Sam tightened his belt buckle and reached up to his bag to secure his snacks. He worked quietly so he wouldn’t wake up the kid across the row from him.
After Sam finished his food, he tried to get some more rest. However, after a half-hour of restlessness, Sam realized he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep any time soon. He got up to try his luck in a different seat. As he walked to the very back, he realized his clothes no longer felt loose. They felt tighter than they were before. He shook his head in confusion; he must be really tired. His legs also wobbled a bit, but he figured it was due to the shaking of the moving bus.
After sitting in a random seat, he pulled out his phone to play games, hoping it would either pass time or make him tired. As he played, something kept on brushing past his ears. It was his hair; usually, he kept it fairly short, but it had been a few months since he had gotten a haircut. He made a mental note to get it cut before his first day on the job.
It didn’t take long for Sam to get bored with the phone games. His mind and body were exhausted, but he couldn’t sleep. It was like starving with food in front of him but not having the appetite to eat. On top of that, his chest kept on itching like he had a rash. He would scratch it, which would soothe it for a short time, but then it would return twice as bad a short while later. Sam put his phone away in frustration.
The next time Sam scratched his chest, he felt the surface of his skin was uneven; there were two bumps, like swelled-up bruises on his chest. He thought maybe he ate something funny. He’d have to get a check-up when he arrived.
Another half-hour passed. Sam’s chest continued to itch. Each time Sam scratched, the swelling seemed to get worse. He tried to tough out the itch, but it would turn to pain if he didn’t scratch. Sam could see swelling mounds press against his tight shirt. If he didn’t know better, the mounds looked like prepubescent breasts. More than that, his whole body felt sore, especially around his hips.
Sam considered walking to the front to ask the bus driver if he could go to the closest hospital. However, his embarrassment of having small breast-like mounds on his chest held him in place. Also, after looking at his phone map, there wasn’t a close hospital. It would be just as fast to wait until he got to the city.
3 AM. Sam’s mind became fuzzier. The bus ride started to feel more like a dream than reality. His chest still itched as it kept on expanding. Breasts. There was no denying what they were. Sam wondered how big they’d get. His shirt was beginning to stretch from the expansion, and the confinement was starting to hurt. Every time he scratched them, it would send a pleasurable sensation through his whole body as his breasts got bigger. Sam had to stop himself from squeezing his soft new body part.
A nagging thought crept into Sam’s mind, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He opened his pants and checked inside. His manhood was completely gone. A lump formed in his throat, and his breathing became irregular. He needed to talk to somebody, anybody. He needed someone to tell him this was all a dream.
Sam pulled out his phone to call his parents, but the phone slipped out of his shaking hands. He tried to search for the phone on the ground, but he couldn’t find it. Curling into a ball on the seat with his knees against his newly formed breasts, Sam felt helpless. He needed someone.
Then he saw David, the kid from before. Sam thought if he could get his attention, David might be able to help. Sam stood up, but his legs collapsed underneath him. With a thump, Sam landed on the floor. With a lot of effort, Sam was able to lift himself back up to his seat. All his energy was gone.
Once he was sitting down in his seat again, he realized his feet barely reached the ground. His hair tickled the back of his neck. “What is happening to me?” Sam asked himself. He held his throat as his voice was much higher than it was before. “Ah! Is that my voice?”
Absentmindedly, Sam scratched his chest again. His breasts swelled larger, pressing the shirt to the limit. A small rip started to form at the collar. The confinement of the shirt was making it difficult to breathe. Sam scratched again. A large tear formed down the middle of his shirt. The pressure of the tight shirt released and Sam was able to breathe easier.
He looked down. He saw the cleavage of his new breasts for the first time. Sam wasn’t the best judge of breast size, but he figured they were quite large. Now they were free, the extra weight strained his shoulders. Every slight movement caused them to jiggle a bit. He held them so they wouldn’t move around so much. The sensation of touching his soft breasts made him light-headed.
Sam felt his clothes shift. He looked down again. The rip that formed evened out; his shirt was now a low V-neck as if it was originally made that way. A white shirt formed underneath his V-neck shirt, which covered up part of his breasts, but his ample bosom was still visible. He tried to pull up his white shirt to cover up his cleavage, but it didn’t stay up for long. He felt another piece of clothing wrap around him underneath the white shirt. It wrapped around his back, shoulders, and chest; it took a moment for Sam to realize it was a bra. He was grateful since it took a little pressure and weight off of his shoulders.
His jeans merged with his shirt and changed to the same type of fabric. The legs of the pants opened and shrank, revealing his long and slender legs. Within a few moments, Sam was wearing a dress that cut off a little above the knees.
He decided to test to see if he could stand. Even though he still felt weak, he could at least stand without falling over. A giggle escaped his mouth before he could cover it. Something was wrong with him. Remembering his previous plan, he made his way to David to see if the kid could help.
Sam sat in the seat next to David. He shook his shoulder and said in his cute voice, “David, wake up, David.”
“Five more minutes, mom,” he mumbled back. He let out a large yawn.
Sam let out a yawn. “David, please wake . . .”
Exhaustion hit Sam like a ton of bricks. His eyes felt heavy as his mind grew hazier. Sam drifted off to sleep next to David.
David woke up without opening his eyes. Something warm and soft was pressing against him. It felt comfortable, like a pillow, and he wanted to fall back to sleep. However, memories of running away from home and riding a bus returned to him. He had no idea what the soft thing was.
He opened his eyes and saw a very pretty girl with red hair sleeping almost on top of him. Her breasts were pressed firmly against his body and her arms wrapped around him. It took all the self-control he could muster to first stop himself from freaking out.
“Um, excuse me,” David managed to say, “Could you wake up please?” The girl opened her green eyes and saw how close they were to each other. Her face turned bright red as she sat up in her seat.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a quiet timid voice; she was looking at her feet, but she would take glances at David. “I . . . I don’t know how that happened.”
David got a better look at the girl. She looked to be about eighteen with bright red hair that went just below the nape of her neck. David couldn’t be sure since they were sitting down, but she looked to be on the short side. She had on a short dress with a frilly skirt.
However, her breasts stood out the most; they were large and firm. Her V-neck top revealed plenty of skin; her shirt underneath was meant to keep her more modest, but it was doing a poor job. The girl seemed very self-conscious about her breasts, as she would occasionally pull up on the shirt, but it would lower back down almost immediately. He had to force himself to look at her face, so he wouldn’t get caught up in her cleavage. David couldn’t understand how a shy girl like her would wear clothes that revealed so much.
“Um, who are you exactly?” David asked.
The girl looked surprised and a little sad, “You don’t remember me? I guess I don’t make that big of an impression.” She seemed to deflate a little.
“No, no, you definitely make a big impression. I’m pretty sure I would remember someone like you.”
“It’s me, Sam. We talked right before we went to sleep.”
The gears in David’s mind turned until he finally connected the dots, but once he did, a wave of fear and confusion washed over him. “Oh no, it happened again,” he said quietly. He had found it strange that the crystal changed Karl and not him.
“What happened again?” the girl Sam asked quietly, with a bit of curiosity in her voice.
David grabbed her shoulder; she seemed to cringe a little. David asked, “Sam, do you remember being a guy?”
“Um, um, I guess so. Don’t be angry with me.”
David caught himself a bit and let go. “I’m not angry. I’m trying to figure . . .”
David felt the bus come to a halt, which interrupted his train of thought. A voice over the speaker sounded, “Thank you for riding with us. Please be careful as you leave the bus.”
“I guess we’re here,” David said. Sam looked like she had something to say but wasn’t sure how to say it. “Sam?”
Her big eyes gazed at David as she grabbed his hand. She started to speak very fast in one breath. “I’msonervousDavidI’mnotgoodwithnewplacesIdon’tknowwhattodocanyoucomewithme?” She looked at him expectantly.
David stared at her blankly as he tried to decipher what she said. He did catch “come with me”.
“Um, sure, I don’t mind,” David dully responded.
After collecting their bags, they made their way off the bus. David tried to hide Sam from the bus driver, so he wouldn’t get suspicious, but he seemed completely apathetic to the passengers getting off.
David and Sam were standing at the bus station with their luggage; David was unsure what to do. Sam clutched David’s arm. This was different from when Karl changed into a girl. Karl seemed to hold on to his arm to be able to get closer to David, while Sam looked afraid and needed someone to depend on. David felt bad for Sam since he was the cause of making her this way.
“So,” David inquired, “Where do you need to go?”
Sam looked at David and pointed in a direction. “I’ve rented an apartment; it’s a few blocks that way.”
“Alright, let’s go,” David said, picking up all the luggage. They walked in silence most of the way with Sam still holding onto his arm; David was very conscious of her breasts against his arm. As people saw David and Sam, Sam seemed to draw a lot of attention due to her figure, face, and behavior. One guy even smiled at David and gave him a thumbs-up.
“So, Sam, what did you study in college?” David asked trying to break the silence.
“Computer science,” she replied; she seemed happy to be talking despite her shy attitude. “I enjoyed it a lot; it’ll be good to move out of my hometown for a fresh start.”
David laughed. “A much fresher start than you imagined, eh.” Sam tilted her head in confusion. “Sorry, bad joke. So how many people are in your family?”
For the rest of the walk, David asked her questions; Sam seemed to open up once she grew more comfortable with him and even became a chatterbox. She still clung to his arm and blushed, but she could talk easier and show more emotions than embarrassment. When she giggled with a pure smile, David felt his heart skip a beat.
“There’s the apartment,” Sam said, pointing at a nearby apartment complex. “Thank you for walking with me.” She grew quiet again with a look that she wanted to say something. David waited patiently; he was getting used to her personality now.
“Can you . . .” she started again. “Do you think you can stay with me, even if it’s just for tonight? I . . . don’t want . . . to be alone.” Her voice started to get quieter as she finished talking. She was staring at her feet, fiddling with her shirt.
David took a deep breath. “Sam, I’ll be honest with you. I’m not here to visit my relatives. I ran away from home, and I have no place to stay. If you’d let me, would you allow me to stay with you? I’ll help you with the rent and everything. You can kick me out whenever you want.”
Sam’s face lit up in a huge smile. She leaned in and hugged him tightly. David could hear her say softly, “Thank you, thank you.”
David and Sam entered the apartment. Luckily, they were able to convince the landlord there was a mistake with Sam’s gender and the addition of another tenant. He only wanted to get paid. Because he only had one key prepared, the landlord said he’d drop off another key later on.
They had also stopped by a nearby grocery store to grab some food for breakfast. After they got their things unpacked, Sam went straight for the kitchen. She started to unload pots, pans, and food from the bag. David hovered back, unsure of what he should do.
“Can I help you with anything?” he asked.
“No, I got it. How about you get in the shower first?” Sam said, “I’ll prepare something special while you get ready, so you can take your time.”
David remembered it had been a long time since he had taken a shower, because of the camping trip and running away from home. He felt filthy and probably smelled worse.
David nodded and left for the bathroom. He spent a long time in the shower thinking over the events of the last two days and how he ended up living alone with a cute girl. He kept trying to recall that Sam was a guy, but she made it extremely difficult. Unlike his brother, David didn’t know Sam very well and only vaguely recalled what he looked and acted like.
The most shocking revelation of the day was that David was the cause of the transformations. Both people who have come in contact with David have transformed into girls. He didn’t know what triggered the change, but he decided he would be more careful about meeting and touching people.
David finished getting ready and went back to the kitchen. Sam was focused on a pot over the stove. Once she heard David enter, she turned and gave him a bright smile. “I made breakfast,” she said proudly.
David smiled gratefully as he sat down; he was excited to have a decent meal. However, his excitement melted away as he saw the contents of the pot; it didn’t look edible. She slid a bowl close to David and filled it with the unspeakable substance.
David looked at Sam and gave her a fake smile. “Thank you. Have you by chance tried this yet?”
“Nope, I was saving this just for you,” she responded with a smile.
Guilt and attraction were not a great combination. David couldn’t say no. He took it as punishment for changing Sam into a girl. He hoped the food wouldn’t kill him.
He took a spoonful of the unknown substance and put it in his mouth. It was horrible; dying was the better option. Sam looked at him expectantly to see how she did. David managed to swallow. “It tastes wonderful.”
Sam beamed; she walked behind him and hugged him so her breasts pressed against the back of his head. David figured eating the food was worth it for the hug.
“I’m so happy. I can make you a meal every day. Will that be okay?”
David cringed; not worth it. As he was thinking of the best way to answer, the doorbell rang.
“I got it,” David said quickly as he rushed to the door.
It was the landlord, Simon. Simon was in his mid-forties, and he had balding brown hair and early signs of wrinkles. “Yes?” David asked.
“I came by to give you the extra key,” Simon said in a monotone voice, holding out his hand with a key.
“Oh, right. Thank you.”
David reached out and took the key. David’s fingers touched the palm of Simon’s hand. Simon gave his hand a funny look, but then he shook it off.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Simon said as he walked away.
David closed the door and immediately sat down on the floor, banging his head against the door.
Sam came over and said, “Is anything wrong?”
“I think I made a big mistake,” David said, recognizing Simon gave the same look Karl and Sam gave right before they transformed. “We’ll probably be having another visit soon.”
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